Bankruptcy Statistics

In 2007, approximately 851,000 people filed for bankruptcy in the United States. This includes individuals and businesses filing under Chapter 7, 11, 12 and 13. Of these, approximately 519,000 were Chapter 9 Bankruptcies and approximately 325,000 were Chapter 13 Bankruptcies.

In 2006, approximately 618,000 people filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7, 11, 12 and 13. More than half of these were under Chapter 7 (approximately 361,000) and almost half were under Chapter 13 (approximately 251,000).

2005 saw an astounding number of Chapter 7, 11, 12 and 13 bankruptcies: over 2,078,000 . Of these, 1,659,017 were under Chapter 7 and 412,130 were under Chapter 13.

In 1980, approximately 300,000 people filed for bankruptcy.  Over the course of the past 25 years, bankruptcy filings have steadily increased. The average age of most bankruptcy filers is 38 and 44% of bankruptcy filers are couples.      

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